Gartner for Marketers Research

Digital IQ Index December 18, 2019

Beverages US 2019

Traditional categories such as soft drinks and juices, and emerging categories such as milk alternatives and kombucha play side by side in the beverage landscape, intensifying competition between enterprise and indie brands. Successful enterprises are leaning on their size and scale for dominating the digital share of voice and engagement by strategically prioritizing pay to play platforms. On the other hand, indie brands are more aligned to search trends and win with content strategy focused on education, health and brand storytelling. But both enterprise and indie brands face a bigger threat in the form of private label brands, the third major force in this competitive landscape with products in 97% of categories. Bypassing e-tailers and going direct to consumer is an alternative, but not one that all brands can profitably pivot to in the short term. As competition intensifies, brands must clearly assert their value proposition and ensure a coordinated strategy to drive awareness, engagement and commerce.